Seahawks’ Richard Sherman, Doug Baldwin say Trump’s opposition to anthem protests has unified players

NFL players received plenty of backlash from President Donald Trump following a number of peaceful protests during the national anthem Sunday, but despite the fiery rhetoric from the President, Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman believes the team’s decision to stay in the locker room – and their explanation afterward – was generally well-received.

Pete Carroll: Seahawks’ demonstration was ‘for the flag,’ not against it

“I think (our actions have) been received positively for the most part,” Sherman said. “I think that at this point in time, there are certain people in this world who already have their opinions made up, their eyes are closed, their ears are closed, so they are no longer formulating opinions. Those people, you can’t be concerned with… because their criticisms are going to be bad no matter what. You could say ‘The sky is blue’ and they’ll be upset that you said ‘The sky is blue’ because they don’t like the way you said it.

“I think for the most part though, for those that are accepting in our society, those people that are open and have open hearts and a good moral compasses I think they were received incredibly well.”

A recent Cato Institute survey appears to back up Sherman’s claim of a positive reception. Nearly two-thirds of those polled disagreed with Trump’s opinion that players who protest should be fired. The poll found this is the case for all age groups – with the exception of those aged 65 and older – and that fans aged 18-29 were most opposed to players being punished for protesting. And this trend isn’t new; 64 percent of those surveyed in a Reuters poll over one year ago believed then-49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick should not be punished for protesting.

Sherman’s teammate, wide receiver Doug Baldwin, said the Seahawks will continue to have an open dialogue around racism and oppression, a conversation that also includes decisions about what to do for future anthems.

While coverage of the protests heavily focused on Trump’s comments, the original initiative was not to respond to the President but rather to highlight racism, oppression, inequality and police shootings in communities of color. The sentiment was articulated by Kaepernick over a year ago, during then-President Barack Obama’s term. The shift in focus from protesting inequality to protesting Trump has been criticized, but Baldwin also said it was an example of a much larger problem – one that provided a unifying opportunity for players.

“Yeah, it did. It really did,” Baldwin said of whether Trump’s comments derailed the original protest’s intent. “But the reason I thought it would be a unifying opportunity was because you had individuals speaking specifically to injustice and inequality, but then now you have somebody saying, ‘I don’t want to hear your protest, I don’t want to hear your grievances,’ which is a First Amendment right. If an American can’t air their grievances to the Republic for which it stands, where can they air their grievances?

“And when you have the President of our country basically saying, ‘I don’t want to hear your protests, I don’t want to hear your grievances,’ then I think that is where we have the challenge,” Baldwin continued. “I think that is why I thought it was more of a unifying effort and I thought, yeah he did detract from the actual point of inequality and injustice, but at the same time, it’s giving us an opportunity to unify.”

Neither Sherman nor Baldwin volunteered information about what the Seahawks plan to do during the anthem this Sunday at CenturyLink Field – and it sounds as though that has yet to be decided.

“That’s still to be discussed,” Sherman said. “Because last week was a pivotal moment for the league in general to stand to show continuity and to show togetherness and to show that we will not be bullied, in a sense, by the President of the United States and his words, we will not be divided by those words, and I think that was awesome. Each week will be different; I’m sure guys will do different things, but I think the message came across, and I think guys are going to look for more ways to get involved and make a difference in other ways.”

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